Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400
With the announcement by Roush Fenway Racing that Carl Edwards would not be returning in 2015 still reverberating throughout the garage, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 21st Annual Crown Royal presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at The Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Surprising: In spite of securing his second win of the season, as well as having the points lead well in hand, it surprisingly took securing his fifth win at the Brickyard and his 90th career victory to make a championship believer out of Jeff Gordon.
“It’s so hard to gain confidence in this series,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “I think we saw we were points leaders, we saw we won at Kansas, but I don’t know if we believed we were capable of winning this championship this year, truly believe it.”
“We do now,” Gordon continued. “But a Brickyard 400 win, it just doesn’t get any better. I mean, to share that with that team that worked so hard, to see the look on their face, you can just see it in them now, you know, they believe.”
Not Surprising: The Kyle and Kyle tandem were at it again, with Kyle Busch finishing in the runner up spot and Kyle Larson scoring highest finishing rookie honors yet again with his seventh place run. This was Busch’s third runner-up result in the last four races, scoring bridesmaid honors at Kentucky, Loudon and Indy.
“I finished second at Kentucky, Loudon and here,” the driver of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota said. “We had some good races going. It would be certainly more beneficial to pick up some trophies, take some trophies home, get some of those benefits for the Chase.”
“Three second places, that’s 11 extra points that you miss out on,” Busch continued. “That sucks pretty big for the Chase and for those bonus points. But, you know, if we keep going that way, then things will pay off sooner or later. We’ll start winning some.”
With his top-10 finish, the other Kyle continued his domination of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle, now leading the standings by 37 points over Austin Dillon. Larson also sits 13th in the points as he tries to make his way into the championship Chase.
“It was a good day for us,” Larson said. “The Target car was really good. We were a top-10 car the whole race.
“Cool to finish in the top 10 at the Brickyard,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “To see Jeff Gordon win is pretty special. It’s kind of like Junior winning the 500 this year. It was a really good day for everybody and all the fans, too. So happy about it.”
Surprising: Just when Denny Hamlin thought he and his Joe Gibbs race team had turned the corner after finishing third in his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, some surprising post-race inspection issues reared their ugly heads.
NASCAR took several rear firewall block-off plates off the car for further examination back at the R and D Center. These particular plates could have improved the aerodynamics of the car so Tuesday will be an interesting day for Hamlin and company as far as any potential penalties.
“It was a little something; it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Jimmy Makar, Senior Vice President for Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal (penalty-wise). It is just a questionable thing.”
As a result of his good Brickyard finish, Hamlin advanced one spot in the point standings to 11th and is poised for a run at the championship with his win at Talladega earlier in the season.
Not Surprising: With Indy known as a track where passing is difficult, it was no surprise that restarts were key and where much of the action took place. And again, not surprisingly, the final restart was critical for so many drivers, from Matt Kenseth, who gained a few spots to finish fourth, to Kasey Kahne who lost the lead to finish sixth.
“It was interesting because I was — I was kind of picking on Jeff’s (Gordon) restarts all day because he just couldn’t get going on the outside,” Kenseth said. “He was getting on the outside of the front row. I was behind and was like, ‘Man, this is going to be bad.’ He got into (turn) one and kind of carried the 5 (Kasey Kahne) and the 5 must have got loose.”
“And, then Denny (Hamlin) gave me a break,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota continued. “I got out in front of him and we were both able to pass Kasey (Kahne). Then Denny (Hamlin) got us three-wide. Once it singled out we were able to get away a little bit.”
For Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet, the final restart result was not as favorable.
“Jeff (Gordon) just beat me,” Kahne said. “We got into Turn 1 he held me down and he was able to momentum off of Turn 1 which he did a better job.”
“I should have choose the outside, looking back, but I thought there was more grip on the inside down the front stretch,” Kahne continued. “Then he controlled the start. I just gave it up at that point. Either way that was the best we were going to finish.”
“That was alright though.”
Surprising: It was a surprisingly good weekend for the Dillon brothers, with Ty winning the Nationwide race and brother Austin finishing top-10 at the Brickyard.
“It’s great for us,” the driver of the No. 3 Dow/MyCogen Seeds Chevrolet said. “As a team we just want to build momentum and that was a solid day. Our car had some speed in it, but it was tough to pass because when you got in traffic you couldn’t do much.”
“I am very proud of my guys, solid day, and hard to back up that win that Ty got yesterday but I will definitely take a top ten in this series.”
Not Surprising: Paul Menard was NASCAR’s biggest loser after contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, back in a part-time ride for Team Penske, forced him to a 34th place finish, dropping him five spots in the points to 16th and teetering on the brink of Chase contention.
“It’s stupid,” Slugger Labbe, Menard’s crew chief, said. “People have no respect…. I just don’t get Juan Pablo, what he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense. You’d think the guy would come over and apologize or something.”
“We’re running for a spot in the Chase, and some part-time racer left-rears us and puts us in the fence,” Labbe continued. “Then you’re done.”
“It probably knocked us out of the Chase (for the Sprint Cup), but…we’ve just got to fight back in six more races.”
Surprising: In spite of a grueling day and a 42nd place finish due to a broken axle, Danica Patrick still managed to find her happy place.
“It’s just one of those things,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “We were having a good day. It’s disappointing and the GoDaddy guys built me a really good car. Hendrick gave me great horsepower.”
“We were the fastest car out there at times,” Patrick continued. “We qualified better and had a good car for the race, it just didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”
“The good thing is, I get to come back to Indy and that makes me happy.”
Not Surprising: After a 16th place run, Clint Bowyer in his No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, was wishing his ride would turn magically into an IndyCar race car, complete with all its bells and whistles.
“No wonder them Indy car things have a push to pass button,” Bowyer tweeted after the race with the hashtag of #indyproblems.
“Our RK Motors Toyota was much better than our 16th-place finish,” Bowyer continued. “We had a little trouble in the pits and we got back in some traffic. We had to pit under that last caution because we got some debris on the grill from another car when we were leaving pit road.”
“It was a frustrating day but Brian Pattie and the guys gave me a good car just wish we finished better than we did.”
Surprising: Greg Biffle had a surprisingly lucky weekend, first hearing from his team owner that he would be the anchor driver for Roush Fenway Racing for 2015 and then gambling on pit strategy to finish lucky 13.
“Certainly the focus of our leadership is going to be with Greg Biffle and the things that he does with the racecar and the leadership he provides for the engineering initiatives we take,” Jack Roush said. “We had that split with Carl and Greg together this year, so that will be a little different next year.
“I had other options but I felt like I spent a lot of time there and we’ve always won races and I feel like we can win races again,” Biffle said. “The first half of the season has not been what we wanted. It’s no mystery.”
“I don’t think that’s a reason to jump ship and say I’m leaving because we haven’t won a race and we’re not performing the way we should.”
Not Surprising: With one win under his belt, it is not surprising that team Almirola is headed to test at Watkins Glen on their way to next week’s race at Pocono. Almirola passed many cars at Indy after starting in the rear in a backup car to finish 21st.
“That’s a decent finish, but I’m frustrated because we’ve got to figure out how to get more speed,” Almirola said. “We’ve got six more weeks to get our cars better before the Chase, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to try to figure it out and try to be more competitive.”
“But it is what it is,” the driver of the No. 43 Eckrich Ford said. “We dug ourselves a hole this weekend and finished 21st.”
“We had one run where we drove up to like 15th, and I thought we were going to be pretty good, and I don’t know if we got a bad set of tires or what, but we could never recover after that.”
The Final Word – After Indianapolis, I am guessing Jeff Gordon still runs with a full tank
Crown Royal attaches a hero’s name to the Brickyard 400 as part of their sponsorship, and this year that honor went to 12 year military veteran John Wayne Walding. Yet, to be honest and if the length of the title could go on to infinity, this should have been called “Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard to be Dominated Once Again by Jeff Gordon.” That sounds about right.
The California boy who became an Indiana racer as a teen had the car, the speed and this race in the bag from start to unchallenged finish. He might have led only 40 laps, but he was the guy early, the guy late and the guy we were watching for in between. Sure, Kasey Kahne might have had a good run, made some think this might be his day, but Gordon was the only driver who could come and go almost at will. When Kahne drifted back to sixth after the final re-start, there was no more guess work left. Twenty years ago Gordon won his first at the famed Indianapolis Speedway, and last Sunday he claimed his fifth. If the man who celebrates his 43rd birthday next Monday is growing old, he sure is going about it mighty gracefully.
We have come to expect good things from Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and even the winless Matt Kenseth this season and we were not disappointed. We expect Top Tens from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he got it. Even the kids, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon, showed why they remain in Chase positions as the pair claimed Top Tens as well.
You know you are having a good season if a bad day means coming in between 11th and 15th. Boo-hoo for Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards. Even Ryan Newman, winless but, like Kenseth, sitting pretty in points, was 11th.
Okay, so it was not all roses and kittens for everyone. For Trevor Bayne, the new guy with Roush next season, it was a chicken or the egg sort of deal. He brushed the wall and he had a tire go soft, but I’m not certain in what order. The end result was him losing control in the corner and coming to a stop after finding the inside wall. Dead last.
Danica Patrick, it could have been a premature end to a promising day, or just one we hoped held promise. When something busted in the rear-end of her car, she was destined for 42nd. Due to her open wheel experience, some hoped she might have done better here than she traditionally does elsewhere. Then again, some hoped for the same from Juan Pablo Montoya and he finished 23rd.
Yes, ABC/ESPN is back, but let us think positive here. Other than Rusty and Brad, they are not all that bad and the pit reporters are top notch. As a poor Canadian boy without FOX1, I discovered last week that even a less than stellar Cup experience beats not having an Eldora experience at all.
A quick word about the Nationwide race. If only our broadcasters quit hero worshiping, coverage of the junior circuit would be so much better. Young Ty Dillon won a career first to move to within 15 points of the top in the standings, so his story mattered. Brian Scott was seventh and the fifth ranked Nationwide driver mattered. The top three in the rankings, Chase Elliott (12th), Regan Smith (10th), and Elliott Sadler (15th), are all in a tight race, so all mattered, but like Scott none were deemed worthy of a post-race interview. Top five finishers Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, and Joey Logano are all Cup guys, none of whom won thus none of them mattered. Still, who was interviewed? You know.
When we had 20 races to go to the start of the Chase, it was pure bovine excrement to read stories of how this driver or that needed to win to get into the Chase. With six to go, not so much. Eleven are in via wins, leaving five spots open. Kenseth and Newman could take a week off and still hold a Chase place, so far so good for them. Clint Bower and the kids feel the heat from Kahne, Paul Menard, and Greg Biffle for the final three spots. Thirteen others remain in contention by being in or near the Top 30 in points, though their pass is probably limited to a win to be in. Tony Stewart remains among them, 30 points behind the 16th ranked Dillon.
This Sunday it is the GoBowling.com Pennsylvania 400 from Pocono, where Earnhardt won in the spring. Another win would be nice, but not crucial. In fact, going over the winners from the past ten years, we have Johnson (3 times), Edwards (2), Kurt Busch (2), Denny Hamlin (4), Gordon (2), Keselowski, and Joey Logano, all of whom already have a 2014 victory.
Kahne has not, though he has two wins at Pocono, including last summer. Stewart (June 2009) and Greg Biffle (July 2010) are also former winners at the track, and a return to Victory Lane is even more crucial for them. With six to go, the sword of Damocles has started to appear hanging over their heads, which is one hell of a place to find an old Greek razor.
SWEET SIXTEEN
1 – Brad Keselowski – 3 WINS – 666 POINTS
2 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 628
3 – Jeff Gordon – 2 – 717
4 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 – 693
5 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 603
6 – Joey Logano – 2 – 591
7 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 565
8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 609
9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 572
10 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 496
11 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 456
12 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 661
13 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 606
14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 577
15 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 562
16 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 559
CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
17 – Kasey Kahne – 0 WINS – 555 POINTS
18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 551
19 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 550
20 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 532
21 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 529
22 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 511
23 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 499
24 – A.J. Allmendinger – 0 – 466
25 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 465
26 – Casey Mears – 0 – 455
27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 397
28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 382
29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 343
30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 325
31 – David Gilliland – 0 – 284
32 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 282
Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
The first shoe dropped Sunday morning. It was almost certain when Jack Roush revealed that Trevor Bayne would be driving the No. 6 Ford in 2015. Roush has only had three cars in recent seasons because of the lack of sponsorship, and it was almost unbelievable that he would field four in 2015. Of course, there was always a possibility that it would be Greg Biffle or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that was leaving, but all along we knew.
The announcement came first via email, Facebook and Twitter from Roush Fenway Racing. It simply announced the driver lineup for 2015. It was minus Carl Edwards. Fastenal, Edwards’ lead sponsor would go to Stenhouse. Later on Jack Roush and other RFR principals commented. Edwards would not be part of the team in 2015. The usual “we’re going to race just like always with Carl and get a championship” line was spoken as well as the “he’ll always be a part of the RFR family.” Bull. This was payback.
The last time Edwards’ contract came up, he played it just like he did this year. No comments and no news, just the usual “proud to drive a Ford for Jack Roush.” The ball was in Edwards’ court, and it probably didn’t sit well with Roush. Ford had bent over backward to keep Edwards then. There was talk of stock options and commercial deals in addition to his contract with the race team. Edwards was Ford. There was almost a championship in 2011 and struggles since, but no driver ever mentioned Ford so much in post-race interviews, win or lose. After all of that, Edwards told Roush in May that he had a contract with another team. Which team? He didn’t even tell Roush which team he was going to. Despite all the talk that he is part of the family and that they are still running for a championship, there is bad blood there.
Then there is the Toyota thing. Everyone knows Roush despises Toyota. Remember the battle of words between Roush and Lee White when he was at Toyota. He just saw Matt Kenseth go over to the Japanese brand and now probably Edwards. It was the second or third most prestigious race on the circuit. What better time to announce his 2015 team minus Edwards. Here, take that, Carl. Oh, in public, there will be nothing but good will expressed, but this act on the day of the Brickyard 400 speaks volumes. If the mission was to embarrass Edwards, mission accomplished.
Now we wait for the other shoe to drop. It won’t be much of surprise if the rumors are correct. Everyone agrees that his new ride will be with Joe Gibbs Racing in a fourth car with unknown sponsorship. Many felt that the key was Edwards taking sponsorship to Gibbs or wherever he went, but the Fastenal announcement seems to have quieted that theory. As is Edwards’ custom, he’s not talking, and probably won’t until October in Charlotte.
Would better performance have kept Edwards at Roush? Not likely. Neither would loyalty. Even though Roush put him in his first major truck, Nationwide car, and Sprint Cup ride, Edwards wanted to see what it was like to drive someplace else. I’m waiting for Edwards to utter that old tired line, “it’s business.”
Indeed it is, and the rest of the season will be tough for Edwards. Very few lame duck drivers do well once they announce, or someone else announces they are leaving. Kevin Harvick was an exception last year, but that’s unusual. Edwards was a long shot for the championship anyway. The announcement Sunday morning made those odds longer.
Gordon Wins Record 5th Time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No.24 Axalta Chevrolet owned by Rick Hendrick, made history at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by becoming the first 5-time winner on the oval and ties Michael Schumacher for most wins overall. It was Gordon’s first win at the track since since 2004. His other wins include the inaugural race in 1994, as well as wins in 1998 and 2001.
Gordon started second and lead three times for 40 laps in the 160 lap event. “I don’t think there’s a greater feeling as a race car driver, and a race team. I finally made the restart of my life when it mattered most. I was trying so hard with 10 to go not to focus on the crowd, I was trying not to let it get to me. You can’t help it, it’s such a big race, such an important victory. This one is for all those fans throughout the years and all weekend long who said, ‘go get number five.’” said Gordon in Victory Lane. The win was Gordon’s 90th career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He now has 17 top ten finishes in 21 starts in this race. Bobby Labonte is the only other driver to run in each of the 21 Sprint Cup races at Indianapolis.
Kyle Busch drove his Joe Gibbs owned, No.18 Snickers Toyota to a second place finish after starting the race in the 12th position. After the race Busch said, “Today wasn’t bad. Our Snickers Camry was pretty good. We had a good race car today, probably a top four race car and we come home second. We’re proud of the effort there and the guys did a good job. We look forward to the next few weeks.”
All three Gibbs owned cars finished in the top four. Denny Hamlin, in the No.11 FedEx Express Toyota started 27th and drove his way to a third place finish. “We were awful for two days.” said Hamlin, adding, “The things I require out of a car just doesn’t work until the track gets hot and slick. We knew as soon as the pace started up our car was going to come in. That was a good run for us.” After the post-race inspection, it was determined that there may be some issues with the 11 car for “several rear firewall block off plates.” The parts and pieces will be taken back to the NASCAR R & D Center for further evaluation.
Matt Kenseth in the No.20 Dollar General Toyota, also owned by Gibbs started 13th and finished in 4th. “It was a good day for JGR. All our Toyotas were pretty quick today. We were all top 10 cars. Kept guys out and got good finishes. Wish it was a one-two-three. Another good day for us.” said Kenseth following the race.
Joey Logano, in the No.22 Penske owned, Shell Pennzoil Ford, was the highest finishing Ford driver finishing 5th and leading one time for 10 laps. Joey said, “We ran about where we thought we would. We had nothing compared to the 24 car. We stayed out one time and led a bunch of laps and got some track position that way. It was a good call. Fortunately we were able to hang on to where we were. If you ever make one mistake in this race, your day is over. You never get those spots back. You just gotta be perfect all day.”
Kasey Kahne who has yet to secure a spot in the Chase, dominated the race and looked like he was well on his way to getting locked into the Chase by leading 70 laps before being passed by Gordon on a late race restart. Kahne was not happy with the restart and thought that NASCAR let Gordon control the restart even though Kahne was leading at the time, “I didn’t spin a tire and Jeff was driving by me before we were even at the second red, so they just let him control it. But either way, he was gonna pass me in 1 and 2, so looking back, I probably should have chose the top.” said Kahne following his 6th place finish. Kahne is now 15th in the point standings.
Jeff Gordon leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings by 24 over teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished the race in the 9th position.
The race had 4 caution flags for 16 laps and had 15 lead changes among 9 different drivers. Gordon’s margin of victory over Kyle Busch was 2.325 seconds.
